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The biggest lesson from 2020…

 3 years ago
source link: https://uxdesign.cc/the-biggest-lesson-from-2020-421c7a938cca
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A guy (me) skateboarding away from a scary 2020 calendar.
A guy (me) skateboarding away from a scary 2020 calendar.

The biggest lesson from 2020…

…as an optimistic designer.

A few weeks ago my friends from the UX Collective asked me what was the biggest lesson I take away from 2020 and they were kind enough to share my answer here. This is not a different answer, it’s just a more elaborate one, with a story and some visual candy. Hope you enjoy.

2020 has been a challenging year, forcing most people to adapt to new realities.

It has been tough for everyone, but as an eternal optimist I always look at the silver lining, and the thing that sticks out the most for me is adaptability.

As a teenager, I fell in love with skateboarding and I decided I wanted to learn how to do it. Little did I know that when you don’t know how to balance yourself on top of a skateboard, even going straight ahead is a pretty big challenge, which is a nice way to say that, I fell a LOT. But, with time you start to pick up on your mistakes, and what previously seemed impossible, now is simply muscle memory.

The thing that most people don’t know about skateboarding is that for every trick you land, you spend literally hundreds of times trying, and with that comes a lot of falling.

Me stepping on a skateboard (that represents 2020) and falling straight away.
Me stepping on a skateboard (that represents 2020) and falling straight away.

So skateboarders are forced to become pretty good at that, learning how to fall in a way they won’t get hurt, so they can continue on falling until they finally land the trick.

When you learn how to fall, it’s easier to get back up and keep trying.

What’s my point? In 2020 we all fell pretty hard, now it’s up to us to either cry about it or get back up, shake the dust off and try again.

Designers (and people in general) need to be prepared for change because change is inevitable. Every once in a while comes a year, like 2020, that forces change on you, and at that point, you either adapt or you break.

What keeps me optimistic is seeing that people can not only adapt, but thrive in a changing world. Just look how much progress we had in the span of less than a year on tools that enable remote collaboration, it’s truly amazing!

If a year ago someone told me that a company like Shopify could have their entire workforce working remotely I would laugh. Seriously.

Looking to 2021 and beyond that’s the lesson I take. I want to be more nimble and ready to embrace change with my skateboarder mindset, even if that means that I will have to fall on my face a few times. As long as I’m learning something new with each fall, eventually, I’ll land the trick, and at that moment all is worth it.

Me doing a 360 flip with my skateboard over an obstacle in the shape of 2020.
Me doing a 360 flip with my skateboard over an obstacle in the shape of 2020.

Plus, the world won’t stop changing and evolving, in 2021 things may get easier or things may get harder. The moment you refuse to change is the moment you start to lag behind.

As a way to conclude this, I want to challenge you to look for opportunities that come with change, not just the challenges. Because when you take a positive approach it’s easier to persevere.

Thanks for reading! Since you made it this far, I’ll introduce myself.
My name is José Torre and I’m a designer.
If you feel like talking, connecting or just want to see what I’m up to, I’m Halfool on
Youtube and Instagram, and you can also follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published on our platform. This story contributed to Bay Area Black Designers: a professional development community for Black people who are digital designers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area. By joining together in community, members share inspiration, connection, peer mentorship, professional development, resources, feedback, support, and resilience. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.

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